Elastic-fluid turbine.



PATENTED APR. 11, 1905.

0. JUNGGREN.

ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24.1904.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

//7 14927601".- Oscam/un W/Zinesses No. 787,297. PATENTED APR. 11, 1905. 0. JUNGGREN. ELASTIC FLUID TURBINE. APPLIOATIONV FILED AUG. 24,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Patented April 11, 1905.

.UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OSCAR JUNGUREN, OF SOHENECTADY, NE\V YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEN- ERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF Nl HY YORK.

ELASTlC-FLUID TURBINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,297, dated April 11, 1905.

Application tiled August 24, 1904. Serial No. 221,955.

To all u'llont it 'III//,/. I/ (sou/emu)..-

Be it known that l, Oscan JUNGGREN, aciti- Zen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the county ol" Sehenectady and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elastic- Fluid Turbines, of which the following is a specitication.

-ln certain installations it is desirable to operate turbines condensing at one time and inm-eomlensing at others to meet the requirements of service. For example, the turbines maybe operated condensing during those months of the year when steam-heating is not required and non-condensing the remainder. Again, the condenserapparatus may get out of order, in which case. the turbines must be operated non-condensing or shut down entirely.

(omlensing-turbines have a number of wheel-buckets, which are acted upon by metive lluid at a pressure above atmosphere, and other wlnwl-buekets that are acted upon by the lluid at a pressure below that ol the atmosphere. 'hen such a turbine is operated non-condensing, it means that those buckets normally working below atmospherie pressure are idle and are revolving in air or in a lluid medium having about the same density.

Tests show that to rotate idle wheel-buckets either in air at atmospheric pressure or in a lluid having a greater or less density requires a considerableexpenditure of energy, which varies with the character of the buckets, the inelosure, and the density of the surrounding lluid and amounting in large machines to a good many horse-power. From this it is obvious that when a turbine normally intended for condensing operation is operating non-cmulensing the loss in ellicieney due to the idle buckets becomes an important consideration, it being especially true where the turbine operates for months at a time under these conditions. It is impracticable to take a wheel or wheels oil of the shatt, because such a proceeding would necessitate taking down the entire machine, a proceeding not to be seriously considered for obvious reasons. In case the turbine is of the vertical-shaft type, driving a generator located above it, the dilliculties would be in creased.

The object of the present invention is to provide a turbine which is so constructed that its idle wheel-buckets can be disconnected from the shaft, so as to decrease the rotation losses, and thereby improve its ellieiency.

In carrying out my invention the turbine is divided into two or more stages, each stage containing one or more rows of wheel-buckets and the necessary lluid-discharging devices. Intermediate buckets are also provided where two or more. rows ot wheel-buckets are employed. The wheels for the turbine are mounted on a common shaft, the latter being supported in suitable bearings.

The present invention is particularly adapted for vertical machines, and the description will be more or less specilic thereto; but the invention is broad enough to include horizontal turbines as well. The wheelbuckets that are intended for use under all conditions are secured to the shaft in any well-known way, while those which are to be disconnected are provided with a special support in the l'orm of a coupling. The c.lear ance between the relatively movable parts in a turbine is commonly measured in hun dredths of an inch, from which it follows that the idle wheel must occupy substantially the same position whether idle or active. \Yhere no intermediates are employed, the wheel may be moved somewhat more; but to all intents and purposes the wheel-buclwts mustoccupy their normal. position. Keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft is a support for the wheel-buckets, which are to be eonnected to and disconnected from the shatt. The wheel or wheels carrying the buckets have a bore. which is enough larger than the diameter of the shaft to permit the latter to turn lreely when the parts are disconnected. The support and wheel or wheels are bolted or otherwise secured together.

Mounted within the turbine-easing are one or more devices that are out of engagement with the wheel when it is running, but which are movable into engagement therewith when the wheel or wheels are to be disconnected. These devices may be adjustable from a point or points outside of the casing but since they are intended to be used only at rare intervals it suffices to locate them entirely within the casing. Between the support carried by the shaft and the wheel or Wheels is a shoulder or other centering device to insure the proper center of the latter. Owing to the weight of the wheel or wheels and also to the small clearance between them and the other parts of the turbine the supports must be rugged in character, simple in construction, and not liable to be seriously affected by rust.

It being impracticable as well as undesirable to lubricate the surfaces between the idle wheel or wheels and the shaft, the clearance should be great enough to prevent engagement between them. The supporting devices for holding the idle wheel or wheels must be of such a character as to maintain a suitable clearance at all points around the shaft. The character of the coupling and of the supports can be varied from that shown without departing from the spirit of my in- Vention.

WVhen one or more wheels are disconnected from the shaft, valves may be and preferably are employed to prevent access of the motive fluid to the stage or compartment containing the idle wheel or wheels.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of a turbine Fig. 2 is a plan view of the base, and Fig. 3 shows an arrangement whereby more than a single wheel can be coupled to or uncoupled from the shaft.

1 represents the subbase of the turbine, which is mounted on a suitable foundation 2 and supports the exhaust-receiving base 3. The upper surface of the base is turned true, and resting thereon is a cylindrical casing 4, inclosing the bucket-wheels 5 and 6. Each wheel has one or more rows of buckets 7, that receive steam or other motive fluid from the nozzle 8. The latter may be and preferably is of the sectionalized type. The wheels are mounted upon a vertical shaft 9, having a combined step and guide bearing 10, carried by the base. The upper wheel or wheels where a greater number than two are employed are rigidly secured to the shaft, and therefore occupy a permanent position, ex- 66 717111 so far as their position may be changed by adjusting the step-bearing blocks. The lower wheel or wheels are secured by a coupling, to be described later.

The casing is divided into compartments or stages by one or more diaphragms 1 1, hav ing passages 12 for conveying motive fluid from one stage to another. Valves 13 are also provided, by means of which any given stage or stages can be cut off at will.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the turbine shown is of the compound type, inasmuch as the motive fluid acts successively on the wheel-buckets, and also that each wheel is of itself compounded.

Formed on the shaft or otherwise secured thereto is a collar 14, and resting thereon is the lower part 15 of a coupling. The upper part of the coupling may be formed by the wheel itself or by a part attached to the wheel Between the upper part of the coupling and the wheel is a shoulder 16, which serves to center the lower wheel or wheels. The height of the vertical wall of the shoulder should be small, so that the parts of the coupling will free themselves when the wheel is slightly raised. Owing to the small clearance employed between the wheel-buckets and inter mediate buckets and the nozzle, no attempt has been made to accurately represent this on the drawings.

Axially-extending bolts 17 are employed to secure the wheel to the lower part of the coupling, the latter being prevented from turning by the key 18. Between the bore of the lower wheel and the shaft is a small clearance 19, which permits the shaft to turn freely when the lower wheel is disconnected. Formed on the inside of the chambered base and equally spaced about the shaft are columns or pillars 20, which carry the screwthreaded lifting-bolts 21.

In order to disconnect a wheel, the bolts 17 are removed and the lifting-bolts 21 are retated until they hold the wheel free from the coupling. Access to the casing is had through a manhole. (Not shown on account of the character of the section.)

The exhaust motive fluid is discharged through'the passage 22 when the machine is operating condensing and through the passage 23 when operating non-condensing. In the latter case the valves 13 are preferably closed.

In Fig. 3 the wheels to be connected and disconnected are mounted on a sleeve 24, and the latter is bolted to the lower half of the coupling. A diaphragm may be employed to divide the easing into stages, as before.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes I have described the princi ple of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but

I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

l/Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is 1. A turbine, comprising bucket-wheels, a

shaft, fluid-discharging devices, and a casing,

-in combination with a means for coupling and uncoupling one or more wheels from the shaft, and a means for holding the disconnected wheel or wheels free from the shaft.

2. A turbine, comprising bucket-wheels, a shaft, a fluid-discharging device, and a casing, in combination with a coupling for connecting and disconnecting one or more wheels from the shaft, and supports engaging a disconnected wheel and holding it out of engagement with the shaft.

3. A turbine, comprising bucket-wheels, a shaft, a llaid-discharging device, and a casing, in combination with a coupling one' part of which is rigidly secured to the shaft, and supports for moving a disconnected wheel awav from the part of the coupling carried by the shaft.

A turbine com )risin bucket-wheels a shaft, fluid-discharging devices, and a casing having a chambered base, in combination with a coupling one part of which moves with the shaft, a means for securing the coupling and wheel. and supports located within the chambered base which are movable into engagement with a wheel to hold it in substantiallv its normal position when the coupling is released.

5. A turbine, comprising a vertical shaft, wheels mounted thereon one above the other, [luid-discharging devices, and a casing, in combination with a coupling for connecting and disconnecting one or more wheels from the shaft, and supports which raise the disconnected wheel or wheels from engagement with the coupling and maintain a clearance between it or them and the shaft.

6. A compound turbine, comprising a shaft, a casing, walls for dividing the easing into compartments or stages, and bucketwheels, in combination with a coupling located within the casing for disconnecting the wheel of one stage or more stages from the shaft, and supports for holding the disconnected wheel or wheels out of engagement with the shaft or coupling.

7. A turbine which is divided into stages, a shaft common to the stages, and bucketwheels for the stages, in combination with a coupling for connecting or disconnecting one or more wheels from the shaft, a support for holding the idle wheel or wheels, and valves for preventing the entrance of motive fluid to the idle stage or stages.

8. A turbine which is divided into stages, a shaft common to the stages, and bucketwheels for the stages, in combination with a coupling for connecting and disconnecting one or more wheels from the shaft, and angularly-displaced supports for the idle wheel or wheels which are composed of fixed columns and lifting-bolts.

9. A. multistage-turbine, in combination with a coupling located within the casing for disconnecting one or more bucket-wheels from the shaft, and supports also located within the casing for supporting the disconnected bucket wheel or wheels.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of August, 1904.

OSCAR JUNGGR EN.

WVitnesses BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN Om onn. 

